Little Madam
by TenRose4ever
Summary: Hope doesn't want to go to school.


**I found this lingering in my "Working Doc" Doc. It was originally meant as part of a bigger story, but in reading it, I thought it was a cute little ficlet on its own. So, I polished it up and added a few bits and voila…!**

 **Warning Kid!Fic**

 **Part of my "These Two Hearts" Series.**

* * *

 **Little Madam**

"Hope, sweetheart," Rose sighed stoically at her five-year old daughter, "I don't think Daddy would really appreciate you usin' his tools for one of your projects…"

"I'll put 'em back, jus' how I found 'em, Mummy. He'll never know…" Hope whispered conspiratorially. "B'sides, the TARDIS let me."

"Yes, well, the TARDIS isn't much older than you, love. _And_ ," Rose raised her voice and glared at the central column balefully, "she needs to learn not to _overstep – her – authority_."

The greenish glow from the column dimmed, and the TARDIS emitted a sad hum.

"I'll speak to _you_ later," Rose admonished the young time ship. Rose felt her tenuous hold on sanity slip just a little, and sighed again: sanity was overrated anyway… and not terribly productive when it came to dealing with her unconventional family.

"Now, as for you, little Madam: _out!"_

"But Mummy, I just started working on the voice modulator…"

"It's _time_ for _school_. Now, out of the TARDIS, and get your rucksack."

"NO!" little Madam stamped her foot, hands firmly planted on her hips.

"Hope…" Rose's tone was dangerously calm and quiet.

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" Her little face contorted, her wild, brown hair swishing around her shoulders, and with each emphatic "NO" her foot pounded the floor and her hands crept up her torso until they were actually in her armpits. "I HATE SCHOOL!" She stamped her little converse-clad foot one final time.

Rose couldn't supress a little smile of relief. Now, _this_ was how a five-year old was _supposed_ to act. "Oh? Why do you hate school? What about your friends?"

"I don't _have_ friends. Everyone _hates_ me. They're mean."

"How are they mean, sweetheart?" Rose crouched down in front of the little girl in an effort to make herself more approachable and less like an overbearing authority figure.

"They're stupid!" Hope glowered, looking down at her nervously shifting feet.

"Hope Tyler-Noble!" Rose took her daughter by her shoulders, and forced her to look her in the eye. "I never, _ever_ want to hear you say that again. Now _that_ is a mean thing to say. Do you hear me?"

"But they're soooo sloooow…" Hope drawled out the words, rolling her eyes.

Rose pressed her lips together in an effort to rein in her growing temper. Her voice was tight and strained when she spoke. "Hope, just because _you_ are very clever, does not mean everyone else is slow. You're just very, very fast. Everyone is smart in their own way… understand?"

"School's boring." She deftly changed the subject.

"I know the work can be tedious."

"I already _know_ all of it."

"I know. But we were hopin' you could make some friends your own age. Could you try a little harder, love?"

An indignant huff was the only response.

"Your Daddy is a genius. And I know I'll never be smart like him, but –"

"Mummy, you _are_ smart! _So_ smart! Daddy says so _all_ the time!"

"And that's my point, baby. Daddy was able to love me even though I was jus' a normal human. I didn't even have my A-levels. I never thought I was anything special. I hated school, because I had so much trouble learnin'. I was one of those 'soooo slooow' people. I know how it feels to be called 'stupid'." She paused when her daughter's little face crumpled as she realized how her earlier comment might have hurt her Mummy. "But Daddy showed me that I _was_ special and smart in my own way, and told me he loved me, so very much, even though I wasn't, erm… intellectually gifted the way he was."

Hope just shuffled her feet and looked at the ground.

"All I'm sayin', sweetheart, is jus' because the children at school aren't studyin' university level physics doesn't mean they don't have something to offer."

"But…"

"Hope, jus' have fun with 'em, yeah. It's not about the marks they get or the marks you get. You enjoy dancin', and singin', and playin' sports, and painting pictures, jus' like the rest of 'em. The secret is _not_ to point out how much better you are than 'em, but to discover the things you have in common. Okay?"

"But…"

Rose frowned and met Hope's eye.

"Ohhhhh, ohhhhhh- _kay_ , fine!" the little girl whinged with a practiced eye-roll. "I'll _try_ … but I'm not guaranteein' anything."

Rose choked back a laugh. _Daddy's little girl_. "That's all I can ask, sweetheart: that you try. _Sincerely_ try, mind, yeah? _Yeah?"_

"Yeah…"

"Okay. Now, into the house, grab some breakfast, and I'll get Charlie and Wilf ready to walk you to school."

Hope leaned in a planted a damp kiss to Rose's cheek. "I love you, Mummy."

"I love you too. Always and forever. Now scoot!" Rose gave the little girl's bum a pat as she shepherded her out the TARDIS door.

As Rose made to follow, her telepathic connection with the TARDIS flared as time ship wrapped itself in an apologetic hug around her mind.

Rose chuckled, stroking the doorframe on her way out. "I love you, too, darling. To the ends of space and time and back again."


End file.
